Imaginative cardboard display racks and boxes.

When I gave permission to a mathematics bookseller to install a medium sized cardboard display rack in my tuition center to store and sell books and tutorials for high school students, he profusely expressed his gratitude several times.

I expected to see a plain old wooden rack but what he brought in took me by surprise. It was an attractive custom designed cardboard box (see image below). The display box is designed in such way to display the top of the books only.














Students can easily see the title of the book and its author without removing the book from the cardboard display box. Flipping through the books is possible by two students at a time.

When the bookseller sold all the books, he left the cardboard box behind as a gift to me.

Earn royalties for your articles.

One of this blog readers politely reminded me about my promise to blog about a free blog traffic generating site that I recently joined and started experimenting with it.

The site is wikinut.com and it is a revenue sharing site. You can submit your articles (can be already published work) to wiki nut and start seeing near instant traffic to your blog provided your contribution is interestingly written.

Wikinut is an article directory operating from England. The user interface is slightly different than other popular article directories. I feel it is not easy to submit and a bit complicated. I do not know why they have constructed their site like that.

Unlike other revenue sharing sites, you don't have to give your Google AdSense id to Wikinut. They pass on a share of their ad revenue and credit it to your account daily in British pounds. Yes, you can see the amount in your account stats page daily.

The amount you earn depends on your content and the views and comments it gets.

Join WIKINUT now! Increase readership to your articles, promote your blog and earn a little money too.

“Top Commentators Plugin” Approach for getting backlinks

Getting Backlinks

The method, proposed by Smartbloggerz, we are going to present today is related to the process of building massive backlinks by leaving keyword centric comments on blogs having Top Commentators widget in their sidebar.

Even the comment section might not have a dofollow attribute, most of the blogs having Top Commentators widget give you dofollow backlinks.

Now just imagine if you are a Top Commentator of a blog having thousands of articles indexed in search engines. You would definitely see a great increase in your search rankings.

If you decide to be amongst the Top Commentators of big blogs like JohnChow, here is what the results could be:

Now let’s see how many indexed pages, JohnChow have on Google:

As you can easily see the huge amount of indexed pages of JohnChow and most of them have the Top Commentators widget which will bring you massive backlinks. Imagine if you just get yourself on Top Commentators list of such 3-4 blogs. Did you imagine that?

List of the Blogs using Top Commentators Plugin

I did plan to create a list for you, but there were others how did the already. So, I can offer you several links to the collection of these blogs:

• Riceblogger’s list: 40 blogs using the Top Commentators widget
• Blog o Ninja’s list: 48 blogs using the Top Commentators widget
• Shankerashi list: More than 100 blogs using the Top Commentators widget.

Installing Top Commentators Plugin to your Blog

If you plan to host yourself the Top Commentators Plugin on your blog to attract more traffic and new readers and commenters, you can do that easily. Find instructions on how to install the plugin on your Blogger blog here or here, and on your WordPress blog - here.

Plugin Usefulness for New Blogs

Some of the experts do not consider the plugin to be useful for freshly created blogs. Chidimar reports his observations that Top Commentator has been heavily abused in new Blogs. People from the Comment Spammers and Link Building Spammers via Comments categories come on New, Fresh and Empty Blogs only on Month startups to grab the top positions in Top Commentators Widget. They come often first week to stay on top and see if they have their place. And then they just vanish till the new month starts. It’s because they know this Blog is fresh, new, has small visitors base and exposure, and no one will come to challenge the top position in the widget, leaving a spammer on top.

2 simple ways to prevent hemorrhoids.

To get hemorrhoids relief, don’t waste your time by asking around for different kinds of symptoms and tips for relief from hemorrhoids and its related discomforts.

I would strongly advise you to visit your doctor the moment you start noticing the discomforts. I have done very stupid things without actually consulting a doctor and I paid a huge price.

Like everybody, I too came to the conclusion that hemorrhoids can be prevented but only after my doctor treated the hemorrhoids quite efficiently and then listed out the real causes for hemorrhoids.

I am sure you would have gained some knowledge about the various causes of hemorrhoids and among them is constipation. Do you know that Diarrhea also causes strain on the veins leading to hemorrhoids?

Drink pure bottled water always and make your food with balanced green vegetables. This will definitely prevent hemorrhoids.

Chennai Bloggers Meet.

The Chennai Bloggers Meet organized by indiblogger.in and sponsored by Univercell Communications was held in posh place called GRT Convention Center in Madras.

Here my observations:

* Renie Revin and Anwyn Joselyn of Indiblogger.in efficiently managed the show without any issues.

* The get together part was arranged in a different manner that encouraged the participant to mingle and start conversing freely.

* I appreciated the ZEE TV Tamil editor Balabarathy's speech in Tamil. He motivated the blogger to speak up in their blog about all socio-economic issues that affected the community. (Sure sir, but who will read?)

*Had there been a question and answer session on blog monetization, blog promotion etc, I would have made some useful contribution. I have so much to pass on.

*A young girl asked about how to attract advertisers but sadly she didn't get satisfactory replies. During the break, I approached her to offer some useful tips but she politely excused herself.

*Before the meet, I randomly visited some of the blogs and I recognized Srivalli who has a nice recipe blog.

*I failed to spot Tulasi whose Tamil blog துளசி தளம் impressed me very much. Her latest post "சும்மா சுத்தினபோது கண்ணில் பட்டவை" -அருமையான தலைப்பு. How easily she has communicated!

* Another blogger I wanted to meet was Rasanaikari whose Tamil blog is just superb.

I thank both the organizers and the sponsors for a creating a nice opportunity to meet bloggers from the same city of Madras. (BTW, where is Chennai? )

Google Launches New Blogger Template Designer

In the beginning of March 2010, Blogger has introduced a new feature called Template Designer. Blogger platform is mostly popular among newcomer bloggers. As soon as they mature, they understand the significant limitations Blogger has. One of these limitations, and a really big one, was the fairly limited amount and quality of the built-in templates. Therefore, you could see multiple twin blogs on the Web cooked in the same kitchen of the limited fantasy of the Blogger designers. The new development can change the situation and give Blogger a strong competitive advantage over the rivals.

According to Google, this tool will significantly broaden the ability of users to modify the look of their blog. This Blogger Template Designer includes ready-to-use professional designs, pre-built templates that can be further modified, a color-adjustment control to tweak the blog's color palette, stock photos for background use and an advanced interface for publishers who know HTML and CSS.

Main Features of the new Blogger Template Designer Tool


1. Templates

This feature allows you to choose from 15 predesigned templates split into four families: Simple, Picture Window, Awesome Inc, and Watermark. Each of the templates can be arranged with 1, 2, or 3 column layouts, complete control over the size and arrangement of the columns, and different background color scheme.

2. Background

As the name of this feature you can adjust and change the background color of your blog template. You can choose from variety of images uploaded on iStockPhoto. In advanced mode you can also customize the color of special elements.

3. Layout

Here you can adjust the columns of your body. You can make a 2 or 3 column sidebar floating to the left or right. You can also customize the width of your blog. You can also make your footer 1 column 2 columns, or 3 columns.

4. Advanced Design

This is the most important and advanced feature as in this feature you can customize the look, color, style of each and every element on your blog including blog title, blog description, post title, post footer, gadgets, images, etc.

To use this feature you have to first log into http://drafts.blogger.com. Than navigate to layouts and click on template designer (you can see in the bellow image).

Video Presentation of the new capabilities:

New Blogger Template Designer 2010

Sources and Additional Information:

http://bestbloggerwidgets.blogspot.com/2010/03/blogger-new-features-template-designer.html

http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2010/03/blogger-template-designer.html

http://blogger.com/templates

Can we really stop aging?

Finally, when my husband gave his consent for HGH provided it is not given in injection form, we were all relieved. He is visibly aging and his movements have slowed down a lot.

But he cautioned me before I selected the right HGH supplement and advised me to learn fully about human growth hormone facts. I think he is more worried about the cost of the HGH than its effects.

If I let him know that HGH price range starts from $42, he would urge me to settle for that but I decided to keep my knowledge to myself and read more consumer reviews before deciding to buy the most effective HGH. I am not bothered about the cost but only interested in my husband’s health.

I would appreciate if you care to share your feedback on HGH if any.

Free traffic site for bloggers.

Right now, I am experimenting with a new website that is said to increase blog traffic free of cost. In fact, we can earn money to use that web site.

Yes, I have seen some negligible amount against my name but I am satisfied with the numberof visits my blog got so far.

I have asked some questions to the site's support staff and I have been receiving polite replies promptly.

The reason I am not mentioning the site name here is, I am still not very clear about the user interface. I hope to understand it in a day or two.

Tomorrow, I will be attending the mega event of Chennai Bloggers Meet organized by indiblogger.in I will look into the free traffic site again on Sunday and get back here with my experience.

Please stay tuned to this blog post.

From blackheads to pretty face.

“Will moisturizing soaps remove blackheads on my face”? - asked my son, a software engineer. He looked really worried. Even a small blemish on the face becomes so visible on a youngster’s face.

I could not answer my son immediately. I looked up at www.blackheadremoval.org mainly to find out the answer to my son’s question. Yes, there was a mention about moisturizing as one of the ways to remove blackheads. There is a cream called ‘Pronexin’ that moisturizes the face and also fights blackheads causing bacteria.

Youngsters who work long hours in air conditioned environment are vulnerable to acne eruptions because of dry conditions. A little bit of sweating usually prevents acne from appearing because the skin debris is removed.

By the way, why it is called blackheads instead of black spots?

The easiest automatic blog posting tool.

So, the word is spreading fast about this much talked about blogging tool-the auto blog feeder. This tool is targeted at those who are:
*Not sure what to blog about daily
*Lazy to do the daily blogging job
* Not sure why they are into the blogopshere.(just kidding)


Though I am aware of similar automatic blog post creation software and plugins, I am yet to see a blog that has automatically generated content from RSS Feeds.

Even to me who love to blog on my own, this auto blog feeder is tempting. I am thinking seriously to build 3 new blogs on topics that I know to generate good Google AdSesne income.

I looked at the screen shots of using this auto blog feeder software and it looked very easy to handle by new bloggers too.

Hey, I am looking for feedback from those who are using auto blog feeder. Any help?

Before you swallow diet pills, read….

Probably, I am the least eligible person to share a handful of weight loss success stories because, I have never used any weight loss product. But, I know many people who will be willing to share their weight loss success stories and can even give it in writing if I request them.

So far I have recommended several diet pills based on consumer reviews to about 16 friends and students of mine. Though not all of them reported the expected reduction in weight loss, many achieved fantastic results.

The success was possible only because of following the stipulated diet plan plus a little bit of breathing exercise that I taught them. It was obvious that those who didn’t see the desired results of taking the recommended food supplements, didn’t follow my written out instructions.

Those who contemplate on buying diet pills should find out several weight loss success stories . I am sure Google has millions of such success stories.

How Xomba can help you to increase web traffic?

An article written by me about 7 months ago is attracting readers. See it here:

http://www.xomba.com/user/roshan

This is the article that has been viewed 166 times so far since it was published on July 8th 2009.

How to practice the art of allowing?

And that is the power of Xomba, one of the most frequently visited online writing site. It also sends backlinks to your sites and blogs.

You also share Xoma's advertising revenue thought I use Xomba only to build readership to my articles where I give a link back to my blog URL.

Xomba has two different categorizes, Xombyte and Xomblurb.

Xombyte- Here you submit your articles. You can also submit your already published articles. I submit my articles that are already published in Ezine Articles.

Xomblurb- You can use this feature like any social bookmarking service. You submit a title of your already published blog post, give its permalink and write a 50 worded summary of your blog post.

If you care to search the Internet for feedback on Xomba, you will realize you are missing a high potential avenue to build traffic to your blog if you are not using Xomba already.

Join Xomba here.

Right now, there are 323 persons browsing Xomba.

How often should you blog?

One of the blog readers asked to share my experience on the topic of how frequently the blog should be updated to reach the best outcomes. Let’s see what the expert’s advices are.

So how do you decide how often to blog? What’s the magic formula? There’s no definitive approach to figuring this out. Instead, take time to ponder the recommendations offered by WebWorkerDaily to help you find what will work for your blog.

• Review your business goals. Increasing blog readership is a worthy goal, but how does the blog support your business’ goals? If your web site itself is the income generator, then you’ll need frequent fresh content. If the blog is for promoting you as an expert in your field, which in turns supports your consulting business, then you probably don’t need to blog daily.
• Know your audience. What jobs do your readers have? How much of their time do they have for reading blogs? How active are they on blogs and social media? What industry do your readers come from? Are they reading during the workday or after hours?
• Identify your contributors. Is your publication a one-person blog or a group blog? Group blogs cut the chances of burnout.
• Look at the length of your posts. Some people with large followings write 1,000+ word posts; these people tend to publish less often. Readers may better tolerate daily posts when they’re shorter: 200-400 words. Some bloggers mix it up with longer posts on a weekly basis, with shorter posts filling in the other days.
• Check web site stats. After adjusting your blogging frequency, check to see if the stats have changed. Remember that while a change could be associated just with the frequency or posting, it could also be because the content quality or level of blog promotion changed.

So, Mister S., did you get the answers? Probably, no… Because, the question on the blog publishing frequency has multiple dimensions, and does not have a magic answer. Let’s say, more you write, you have a higher chance to get the wide-spread exposure in a shorter amount of time. Not only do new blog posts give people a reason to return to your blog, but they also help your blog in terms of search engine optimization. Each new post is a new entry point for people to find your blog through search engines. The more entry points, the better the chances are that new readers will find your blog.

However, do you have abilities and time to publish several quality posts on a daily basis? In most cases, frequent publishing is a sign of a splog, not a busy blogger. So, be sure to offer the attractive content as much as you can. But, do not lose a fun of writing and do not get burn out, rushing for publicity. I would say that consistency of the posts is more important than frequency. If your readers are used to your two posts a week, do not disappoint them by long gaps. They might just leave and never come back.

Blogging for fun

Steal worthy ideas.

I think stainless steel drums sound better when we say ‘drums of steel’-don’t you agree? I have several of them, bought in the ‘second sales’ market at throw away prices.

I use them to store water and also to catch rain water through pipes. We live in a water starved city. Except during the monsoon months (they are very short really, only two months), we live with water scarcity. Rather we have learnt to live with it by copying creative ideas to catch and store water.

There is another major use for my stainless steel drums. I used to willingly lend them for parties and wedding ceremonies. Only at such times, those useful pieces see something different in them like fruit juice and soup.

Steal worthy ideas-eh?

Automatic blog title generator.

I came to know about an online web tool that can generate attractive titles for blog posts that are sure to act as link baits. I mean, such titles if hyperlinked can attract clicks on them.

We all come up with attractive titles once in way but we get suck up for title ideas for most of the time. What this web tool asks us to do is just enter a subject in a box and state whether it is a singular or plural subjects.

You then hit 'submit' button and you instantly see a title based on your subject input. Then, just below the title you see a button 'Generate'. Click on it to generate more titles on the same subject.

Wonderful idea and great innovation-right?

Here is the tool: linkbaitgenerator.com

I tried 'Hair Loss' and these are the titles that got generated.

* Why hair loss sucks: myth vs. reality

* 9 crazy ways that hair loss is infiltrating pop culture
* The 8 most baffling things about hair loss
* 10 of the best hair loss movies of all time
* 10 ways hair loss can help you get a date

Hmmm... quite good I would say.

Look at my won creative work on the subject.

* Mane matters

* Man(e)fully attractive

* The Crowning glory

You can say my work is also good but they are not very good link baiters in the contemporary Internet marketing world-eh?

Quick trim for a different purpose.

It may sound ridiculous but it is true. One of my friends is very passionate about fashion dresses. One day she decided to a have a quick trim just because a particular dress she saw on a window of a popular boutique was slightly smaller for her frame.

She concluded that she can get slimmer by only a few inches by taking a limited quantity of a much advertised quick trim pill that is all over the magazines and television channels.

My friend is already beautiful and her slenderness is noticeably enhanced by her long legs. I advised her strongly against going thinner but she was adamant. She wanted that fashion dress for a major event that is only a few weeks away.

But will it work so quickly?

Twitter Warfare against Spammers and Scammers

Twitter has announced that it is to start scanning all tweets for links to sites which may cause harm to its users.

The system, which goes live today, is similar to those used by services such as Gmail and will automatically check link destinations. Links embedded in personal messages will be routed through Twt.li, Twitter’s own URL compressor for added safety.

Del Harvey, director of Twitter’s trust and safety team, elaborated the new policy in a blog posting:

Today, we’re launching a new service to protect users that strikes a major blow against phishing and other deceitful attacks. By routing all links submitted to Twitter through this new service, we can detect, intercept, and prevent the spread of bad links across all of Twitter. Even if a bad link is already sent out in an email notification and somebody clicks on it, we’ll be able keep that user safe.

Since these attacks occur primarily on Direct Messages and email notifications about Direct Messages, this is where we have focused our initial efforts. For the most part, you will not notice this feature because it works behind the scenes but you may notice links shortened to twt.tl in Direct Messages and email notifications.

Users won't notice any difference because the service works behind the scenes, Twitter said. But users may start to see short links using Twitter’s own “twt.tl” URL shortener in direct messages and e-mail notifications.

Phishing scams on Twitter usually involve attackers trying to obtain the login credentials of Twitter users, and then sending spam messages from the stolen accounts in a bid to make money, Twitter said on its blog last month. Twitter also fights phishing scams by watching for affected accounts and resetting passwords, it said.

Phishing attacks ballooned on Twitter last year as the service grew in popularity. Twitter's new link-screening service comes after it last year started using Google's Safe Browsing API to check for malicious content in links posted by users.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://blog.twitter.com/2010/03/trust-and-safety.html

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/09/twitter-phishing/

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2259231/twitter-takes-action-spammers

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/03/twitter-phishing-scams.html

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9168378/Twitter_to_begin_screening_some_links_for_phishing

The wrinkle cream that also eliminates dark circles.

When people of my age are regular users of a particular wrinkle cream, I have this odd wish to have wrinkles around my eyes. I thought it will give me a look of wisdom. I believed in this concept when I started liking the Tibetan women ever since I was a college student.

They can be found selling sweaters on the streets of Madras during winter. They all have wrinkles around their eyes and it was beautiful when they smiled.

Imagine how I would have reacted when I first came to know about wrinkle creams that are specifically made to remove the wrinkles around the eyes!

And these special wrinkle creams are called ‘eye creams’! They are also said to treat the dark circles. Hmmm… some beauty products manufacturer got wise and thoughtfully addressed the concerns of beauty conscious women.

May be I also should try one of such eye creams to remove the dark eye circles but keep the wrinkles intact.

My blog in Chennail bloggers list.

I should thank my parents for giving my name 'Malathy'. This very blog is placed at the top of a list of bloggers in Chennai under the alphabet 'M'.
See it here: http://chennaibloggers.blogspot.com/#m
Some pleasure-eh?

Ahead of the Indiblogger's Chennai bloggers meet on March 20th, I was curious to find out how many more bloggers are there in Chennai and how many of them have already registered for the event.

Not many I suppose are in the list of Chennail bloggers. I clicked a few profiles of Chennail Bloggers and noticed that most of them haven't updated their blogs for years.

I wish they do it because some of the blogs are really good.

What are the advertising opportunities for bloggers?

What I mean advertising opportunities for bloggers is ways and means to earn by blogging by placing advertisements in a blog.

I hope I have cleared a confusion in my title.

The most obvious types of getting paid to advertise are:

* Pay-per-click: Blogger gets paid when a click is generated on the ads placed.
All contextual ads fall in this category.

* Pay-per-impression: The advertiser pays the blogger each time the ad appears on the blog's page.
This method of monetization pays the least.

* Pay-per-action: This is more lucrative than the other two types. Here the the advertiser pays the blogger when an action is performed after clicking on the advertisement.
All affiliate marketing and lead generation belong to this category.

* Text links and banner ads: This also pays well and also very easy way to get paid from blogs.

Have I left out anything?

Mane matters.

Mane matters to men and women. Some have genes that always hide their quality behind the cells but show their work on the heads. If they are not working properly, we take the help of hair vitamins and natural herbs.

The fashion of sporting long and straight hair has completed a full circle I believe. Some 40 years before, movie stars were liked just for their long hair. There was a distinct change in the fashion shortly after that and women behaved like boys.

Now, it is again the turn of straight and long hair to capture women’s (men’s too) attention. I am no exception.

My last week visit to my beautician ended up in an argument over the use of a particular hair vitamin that promises to straiten the hair in 60 days. I stood firm in my choice and refused to switch loyalty to my hair tonic.

A hair in the head is worth two in the brush-eh?

Why Adipex P has failed?

If I remember right, adipex p is probably the earliest appetite suppressant that was introduced in the weight loss market in 1959. Yes, it was approved by FDA, became an instant hit.

But, widespread complaints of side effects like insomnia, headache and so on, saw its demise. In fact, the list of harmful side effects caused by Adipex P is rather big.

As of today, there are several prescribed weight loss pills in the market and their consumer rating keeps fluctuating. Personally, I would vote for Nuphedragen and I know it has worked for a few friends of mine.

But every appetite suppressant causes some psychological problem for those who depend on such diet pills. Appetite is a natural gift for every living being and to kill it, is such a waste of life.

It is my personal opinion.

How to increase Alexa rank?

If only you know how Alexa ranking works, you won't really bother to implement the steps to increase Alexa rank of your blog. But nevertheless, in order to gauge the dollar worthiness of your blog when you apply for 'get paid to advertise' opportunities, you have to necessarily dig into the topic of increasing the Alexa rank.

If you search the Internet, I am sure you can come up with a handful of articles on 'how to increase Alexa rank' but if you really read all those handful of information, you may not find all are worthy of linking to your blog post.

I have selected a lovely article by Dosh Dosh titled, "20 Quick ways to increase Alexa Rank". (doshdosh.com/20-quick-ways-to-increase-your-alexa-rank/)

Man, he writes so well and clear.

ps: BTW, do you know that Alexa is owned by Amazon?

Go flat.

I was flatly frustrated (strange expression-eh? Just trying to be poetic) when the dealer from whom we bought the LCD TV informed me that he didn’t have many required accessories for making full use of the flat TV that we bought for a mind boggling price.

What is the use possessing an enviable flat panel LCD TV if we don’t watch movies from high-tech DVD player? Our TV dealer sells only stone age DVD player. And he even doesn’t know what is meant by ‘Peerless stand’! I showed him a picture of it (see below) and his mouth fell open.

I learnt a costly lesson. There is no point in obliging a friend and buy expensive gadgets from an ordinary TV showroom if I can’t buy matching accessories from the same outlet.

A word of sisterly advice:

Know exactly what you want before buying and find out where you can buy everything under one roof.

Chennai bloggers meet!

Sadly, I had to reconcile by calling Madras as 'Chennai'. I am an old timer of Madras city and I just can't bring myself to its name change several years ago.

Oh ok. So, it is Chennai where bloggers of Chennai who are registered embers of Indi Blogger are going to meet on 20th of March at GRT Convention Center. The event is being sponsored by 'Univercell Communications', the largest seller of leading mobile phones.

There are more than 1500 bloggers from Chennai that are members of indiblogger.in but only 160 of them can participate in the mega event which is held after a couple of years.

I have registered for the event and eagerly looking forward to meet face to face, all of my online contacts who had thus far remained in contact only digitally.

Eat and burn.

I was laughed at when I told my brother about how he can burn his belly fat by eating certain foods. Obviously, he has no knowledge about foods that burn fat.

“Then why would obese people go on a stringent diet plan, do all those crazy exercises and consume bottles of weight loss pills to burn the fat”?-he asked me quite naively.

I knew I have a tough task ahead to make him understand. I changed the expression of my face and took the smirk off my face and listed out the foods that burn the body fat slowly because those food possess a quick rate of metabolism.

I think the entire world of fat people don’t take foods that contain more soluble fiber. Oats is the king of fiber content. There are known Indian spices such as cinnamon which also helps the food to burn at a faster rate.

There is this wonder fruit called Gooseberry that has more vitamin than apple and it is known for its fat fighting qualities.

Oh, I can list out more foods that burn belly fat but why don’t you email me if you want it?

How to earn money from your blogs without advertising?

I am sure it is possible to make money from your blogs other than the proven methods like PPC and direct text and banner ads.

You too know these methods but you may not have tried them out due to reasons such as lack of belief or other personal reasons.

Shall we do a quick review of the ways to earn money by blogging without placing advertisements?

Earn as a Pro-Blogger:

There are several blog marketing companies that hire bloggers to blog about their clients. These are also called blogging jobs or sponsored posts. Bloggers can apply to blogging jobs to earn money by blogging.

Offer guest posts:

You can offer to write blog posts to be posted in others’ blogs in your niche for a fee. This is a very potential area to earn money as a freelance blogger.

Earn by ghost writing:

It is similar to sponsored posts but the only difference is you don’t post your writing in your blog but on others’ blogs without any credit to you. This means you won’t be the official author of your blog posts but you still get paid.

Offer your services:

If you can teach others blogging or offer blog SEO services, you can make good money provided your services should be competitive. Script installation service is always in good demand. One can find several requests for script installations in popular forums and online market places.

Affiliate marketing:

This is often ignored by beginner bloggers without realizing its true potential. Income generated by affiliate sales can be much more than all other methods. If you learn how to carefully select hot selling digital information products, then it can be very lucrative.

Blocking Comments Spam with Akismet

Before Akismet I was spending more time deleting spam

 than creating content. Now I can focus on actually blogging!

— Sarah King

Automattic Kismet (Akismet for short) is a collaborative effort to make comment and trackback spam a non-issue and restore innocence to WordPress blogging, so you never have to worry about spam again. Akismet is free for personal use.

How does it work?

When a new comment, trackback, or pingback comes to your site it is submitted to the Akismet web service which runs hundreds of tests on the comment and returns a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Do I have to maintain a blacklist?

Nope! Part of the idea of Akismet is that you're always protected up-to-the-second from the latest dirty tricks of spammers. There's no maintenance, no upgrading, no hassle.

Where does the spam go?

When the plugin catches something as spam it saves it in the database for 15 days in case you want to check it out manually and then automatically deletes it. In the unlikely event something gets incorrectly identified as spam you can correct it and it submits the "false positive" back to Akismet for analysis and improvement of our system. If a spam comment happens to get through and you mark it as spam within WordPress, it does the same thing. Akismet becomes more effective the more you use it.

Non-English comments

Akismet woks well on multi-language comments as well.

Downloading and Installation

1. Download Akismet WordPress Plugin and unzip it.

You don't have to do anything to configure Akismet besides entering your API key, just activate and relax. However you do need at least WordPress version 2.0 or above for everything to work. The latest version of the plugin is 2.2.7.

2. Upload the plugin file to your WordPress plugins directory inside of wp-content.
3. Activate it from the plugins menu inside of WordPress.
4. Enter your API key.
5. Enjoy the results.

Developers’ website: http://akismet.com/

Video Clip on the plugin installation: